


Kingdom Hearts Theories

by The_General_Gist



Series: The Ideas Guy [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Speculation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:16:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 3,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24062713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_General_Gist/pseuds/The_General_Gist
Summary: Title says all, really.Older and debunked theories won't be removed, out of laziness.
Series: The Ideas Guy [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1761313
Comments: 7
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

: In KH1, Sora either found keychains in treasure chests or was given them by other characters. Same happened with Fenrir in KH2, but beyond that, since then we've seen our favorite keyblade wielders just acquire new keychains without explanation. Why?   
Theory: These keychains are, in fact, World Keyblades whose forms have been forged by Sora, Riku, Aqua, etc.'s experiences in those worlds. This is done in a similar fashion to drawing upon the power of D-Links.  
  
#2: Just as the Kingdom Key wasn't originally Sora's, Destiny Embrace wasn't originally Kairi's. It was, instead, originally owned by Namine, who then gave it Riku to give to Kairi.   
  
#2.5: Riku was able to dual wield at the time. Why? Because;  
  
#3: Ansem wasn't truly destroyed in KH1. This is supported by him constantly plaguing Riku in Reverse/Rebirth. Instead, I propose, Ansem was only destroyed during Dream Drop Distance.  
  
#4: Re:Coded probably took a month or so to happen, yet the Organization members only restored completely during DDD. This includes the likes of Ienzo, whose nobody was destroyed way back in Chain of Memories. Why?  
Theory: The false Kingdom Hearts created by the Organization took about a month to dissipate. It contained their hearts.  
  
#5: No evidence to support this whatsoever, but here goes; Isa can wield a keyblade. He and Lea inherited the power from Subject X.  
  
#6: Xehanort's original keyblade is No Name from the Mysterious Figure fight. The one seen in DDD and KH3 is affected by Master Xehanort's influence over Young Xehanort's heart. He norted himself.  
  
#7: The Master of Masters' name has something to do with light. "The truth is what you with your eyes, not what you hear," he said in that one cutscene. Just seconds later he said his name, but it was supposedly muted so we couldn't hear it. At the exact same instant, there was a bright light.  
  
#8: Classic Tone was Mickey's original keyblade before inheriting Star Seeker from Master Yen Sid.  
  
Dark Road Theories  
  
#9: Ansem helped Young Xehanort first summon No Name. When he returned to his time, he forgot how to.  
  
#10: The new... let's call it Falling Star, keyblade is an industrial design meant for wielders who've yet to forge their own.


	2. Chapter 2

#1: There are two Vanitases in KH3. One extracted from the past, and the other resurrected by the past Vanitas in Monsters Inc. At present moment it's impossible to tell which one fought in the Keyblade War.  
  
#2: If all the KHuX characters had their own keyblades instead of just using Starlight;  
Ephemer: Sleeping Lion(Upgraded Form)  
Skuld: Fairy Stars(Upgraded Form)  
Blaine: Fenrir(Upgraded Form)  
Stelitzia: Three Wishes  
Elrena: Olympia  
  
#3: The reason Sora, or more accurately Riku, wields the Keyblade of Light, the Kingdom Key, has ties to whatever reason why Ventus had the power to forge the x-blade. What either reason is still remains to be determined.  
  
#4: How did Luxu possess new vessels after passing down No Name? My answer; he forged his own keyblade. His arrowguns are a disguised form of it.  
  
#5: All but confirmed, but here goes. The Scala ad Caelum in KH3 isn't the real one; its the world in Xehanort's heart, much like how a copy of Destiny Islands has appeared in Sora's heart in both KH1 and DDD.  
  
#6: Master Xehanort had a nobody. For one reason or another he decided to lay low until Xemnas, Terra-Xehanort's nobody, was defeated, upon which occasion he commited suicide to revive Master Xehanort.  
  
#7: In DDD, Sora and Riku used Merlin's magic, which is already known to defy established rules of time, to travel back with their bodies. They ended up in a 'Daydream' dimension, where Riku saw Ansem, who's just a heart and thus able to switch realms with ease.  
  
#8: Young Xehanort has been using a Replica body since before Chain of Memories. As soon as one of the extra vessels was finished, Xemnas had it readied for his younger self. Since then, Young Xehanort's replica body grew, explaining why he looks older than the version of him seen in Scala ad Caelum.  
  
#9: The World That Never Was is an access point for the Sleeping Realm. It might be the 'nobody' of a world.

#10: Alternate theory: The World That Never Was has ties to the Shibuya seen in Re:MiND.  
  
#11: Xemnas in KH3 is actually from the present, extracted from Xehanort's heart via the Power of Waking.  
  
#12: In Limit Cut, Aqua was able to open a portal to Realm of Darkness because of the time she had spent there, even though her keyblade isn't one of the dark realm.  
  
#13: Terra's Guardian Form never travelled through time. Terra-Xehanort, Ansem, and Riku always just summoned it to their location.  
  
#14: Sora didn't recieve Star Seeker from Yen Sid, nor did Mickey. The wizard gave them the power to summon it, but they aren't seperate, yet identical, keyblades. Only one of the three of them can wield it at any given time.

That changed when Mickey reforged Star Seeker and Kingdom Key D into Star Cluster.

#15: Plot Armor is an established phenomenon in the KH universe.


	3. Chapter 3

1: The Worlds knew what was up with the door to darkness, and thus made sure the newest keybearer would have the right keyblade, like how they made a door to the fake Kingdom Hearts in KH2.

In other words, the Kingdom Key wasn't forged from either Sora or Riku's heart. It was given to Mr.Protagonist by the worlds for whatever reason.

2: The Kingdom Key D manifested in the Dark Destiny Islands because that's where the Kingdom Key was first summoned by Sora. It mustn't have been wielded for a truly long time.

3: Just as the Kingdom Key D can open the way to the realm of darkness, keyblades of light can teleport users across worlds they've already been to.

4: The Starlight Sora uses isn't JUST a keychain; it's the keyblade he rode during the Union attack in the Keyblade Graveyard.

5: In KH3, Oathkeeper is the Kingdom Key with Kairi's charm equipped, as usual. Oblivion, on the other hand(pun intended), is Starlight with Oblivion's keychain equipped.

6: As stated before, keyblades, given proper training, allow one to open portals to worlds they've already been to. Terra flew back to the Land of Departure because he was already using his keyblade glider. Kind of difficult to open a portal while still in the lanes between.

7: Demon Tides are unique Heartless. While most heartless are predators, with hearts being their prey, Demon Tides and its variants simply exist to kill.

8: In KH3, Kairi wasn't one of the seven pure hearts. In actuality, it was Namine.

9: The next design shtck(like how plaid is for KH3) will be buttons.

10: The Organization XIII weapons were given to its members by Xigbar. They're far older than they appear.

11: Luxu's guns are actually Clip Guns, given to him by the Master of Masters so he could transfer vessels without a keyblade.

For context: Clip Guns are a type of lockpicking device. Perhaps a Kingdom Hearts Clip Gun can unlock things like a Keyblade can(perhaps even unlock things that've already been locked by a keyblade) but can't necessarily lock things.

Xehanort and Ansem repeatedly told Terra and Riku to 'open their hearts to darkness' in an attempt to possess them. How to you open a lock? You unlock it. BAM!

12: The Master of Masters gave the Foretellers their names. With that in mind, it's reasonable to assume the same applies to Luxu.

Conclusion: Braig isn't the name of the poor soul whose body Luxu currently inhabits. No, Braig is Luxu's original name.

13: Assuming Levels are more or less canon, Sora practically fought the Keyblade War single handedly. Riku probably lost his DDD power, simply by not being in the body he had in the Sleeping Realm. If KH1 takes place over the same course of time as KH3, and if Riku spent as much time in the Realm of Darkness as Aqua did during Sora's first journey(0.2 started at lv. 50), then at the Keyblade Graveyard he'd at best be Level 15 compared to KH3 Sora(Levels by number name are not comparable across each game)

Ventus, Aqua, and possibly Roxas are no better. Ven was asleep for 12 years, Aqua was severely weakened by the darkness, and Roxas just got a new body.

14: Assuming Terra was also weakened after being freed from Xehanort's control, it might explain why his and Aqua's keyblades reverted to their base forms.

15: It could be that it wasn't Ventus that had a connection to the X-blade, but rather Vanitas. There are those theories that Vanitas is Darkness from Union X, after all.


	4. The Timeline of Young Xehanort

So... uh, slight problem with a prior theory; Chain of Memories to KH3 isn't exactly 4 years, so Young Xehanort, even in a Replica Body, probably didn't age that much. 

So, what I think is going on; 

Option 1: The older Xehanort's heart in his younger self, even a small piece of it, messes with the Replica's biology, making Young Xehanort appear older.

Option 2: We see from both Re:Mind, the Mysterious Figure in BBSFM, and the ending of DDD that time travelling hearts can create temporary 'false' bodies for themselves. These bodies are presumably can only last for long. If the Mysterious Figure was Young Xehanort, and it most likely was, his time travelling heart visited many times without a replica, and his heart aged as a consequence.

Either way, there's also the matter of Xehanort's weapon.

Age 16: Ansem grants Young Xehanort two ethereal blades to defend himself with, before sending him on his journey.

Birth by Sleep Time Period: Young Xehanort first manifests in the Land of Departure right in front of Terra. A fight ensues. Afterwards, Young Xehanort recruits Vanitas and Terra-Xehanort.

???: Young Xehanort goes about collecting the rest of Xehanort's vessels.

???: Some time after the replica project is completed, Young Xehanort inhabits a replica, allowing him to exist in the future with a proper body.

???: In this time, Master Xehanort's heart enables Young Xehanort the ability to transform the ethereal blades into a proper keyblade, much like Riku did with Soul Eater.(Why the other Organization members didn't do the same in KH3 is beyond me).

Dream Drop Distance and KH3 happen.

KH3: Sora's abuse of the Power of Waking only resets the massacre of the Keyblade Graveyard. Young Xehanort and Xigbar are aware of this. 

KH3: Young Xehanort's replica body perishes, forcing his heart to return to his own time, his memories of the future lost.

Age 16: The Master of Masters pulls some strings, ensuring Young Xehanort ends up on Scala ad Caelum.

Age 16: Along with the other students, Young Xehanort is granted a mass-produced keyblade.

Dark Road then happens.

Xehanort presumably aquires the ethereal blades at some point.


	5. One small theories amd another big one.

Calling back to my Level Theory, it was probably only the Master Defender that allowed Aqua to go toe to toe against Terra-Xehanort. Roxas is a dual-wielder, so he's OP no matter the level.

Anyway, on the matter of keychains;

KH1: Keychains are given to Sora directly.

Oblivion's keychain fits in with the theory that Riku gave Sora his necklace.

KH2: With the exception of Fenrir, which Tifa gives Sora, keychains from Returning Worlds are upgraded forms of keychains Sora already had back in KH1. Hidden Dragon and Circle of Life are forged from Sora's connection to his past summons. Guardian Soul and Bond of Flame of similar origins, hinting at literacy of Sora's 'my friends are my power,' being an extension of the keyblade as well. Other keychains form from the opening of gates. Two Become One is a temporary upgrade of one of Sora's two keyblades, much like Ends of the Earth.

358/2 Days: There are so many gears! I have no idea!

BBS: Having trained in the Keyblade properly, Ventus, Terra, and Aqua have the ability to forge keychains themselves from their experiences(which Sora could do in a limited extent in KH2 and possibly COM). Their keychains are identical because of the three's connection.

Re:Coded: Data Sora drawing on Keyblade's power from COM.

DDD: Sora, and by extension Riku because Dream Magic, masters keychain formation.

KH3: See DDD. Hero's Origin is an upgraded Hero's Crest. Starlight is the one Sora rode in the Keyblade Graveyard.


	6. Chapter 6

1: Xehanort blames Baldr for whoever died. Baldr is typically the god of everything bright and happy(puppies included, probably). And who do we see in Re:Mind going on about superficial light? Xehanort.

2: The reason Sora is able to summon Ralph doesn't have anything to do with him entering the Verum Rex demo. It actually has something to do with Xehanort and his connection to Atheron, who met Ralph in-person.

3: Xemnas knows about Marluxia, Larxene, Demyx, and possibly Luxord(there's a theory his name is Ludor, like the mysterious god of similar name from Norse Mythology, thereby connecting him to Scala ad Caelum rather than Daybreak Town, so he might be exempt)'s ties to the Keyblade through Xehanort's access to Atheron's memories.

4: Dark Chirithy: "Teachings-smeechings. The truth is not something you teach, it's something you learn for yourself."

The Master of Masters: "The truth is what you see with your eyes, not what you hear."

Are... Are they in cahoots?

More: The Dark Chirithy was created from Atheron's darkness and use of the Power Bangle to collect and ultilize dark energy. However, Atheron isn't the only one to wear the bangles, however, as confirmed by Ava in Back Cover.

Conclusion: Atheron wasn't the only one to hesitate joining the Dandelions. The Power Bangles and, by extension, the Dark Chirithy were created or arranged by the Master of Masters to silence anyone would-be Dandelions that knew too much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After watching the show(per recommendation), I can't stop comparing X Chi to Madoka Magica.


	7. Chapter 7

1: The reset of the Keyblade Graveyard didn't rewind time entirely, only for those directly involved, those being the Guardians of Light and Terra-Xehanort. Outside observers such as Chirithy, Namine, Lingering Will, and the rest of Organization XIII were unaffected. The other worlds were also unaffected.

2: The keyblade Kairi wields isn't actually hers; it's Aqua's with the Radiant Garden keychain equipped.

After KH3, Aqua and Kairi find out, and Kairi gives Aqua back her keyblade. However, Kairi keeps the Radiant Garden keychain and it becomes a full fledged keyblade itself.

I also previously theorized it was Namine's, so take your pick.

3: Post Game abilities are canoniclly aquired during the fight with the Lich, after each phase with the exception of the last.

4: Much like the medals and cards, the keychains the Unions use that aren't Starlight are formed from the Book of Prophecies. This is why we see so many wielders using the same keychains.

5: The Chirithies, in their knowledge of the keyblade, are responsible for the upgrading of keyblades.


	8. Chapter 8

1: If Master Defender was usable during the Antiqua fight, it's form change would be Light Form, with Wayfinder as its finisher. No Double Form.

2: Aside from the Foretellers and Luxu, Brain's keyblade, Master Defender, is the first unique keyblade we've seen, as all the Union wielders wield either Starlight or keychains the Player can get(for the most part, my ears are open concerning the Proud Mode keychains. Ven's Missing Ache might be his legitimate keyblade too). Question: Why is Brain a special enough Union wielder to get his own keyblade? Conclusion: Either Master Defender or Brain; there's still something we don't know about their pasts.

3: KH1, Sora created a shadow heartless. His heart stuck with Kairi's heart. When Kairi hugged Sora's heartless, she unknowingly transferred his heart back into the heartless, using the darkness as a body.

Why Sora kept his powers and level after that, I've no idea. Maybe because Kairi was there on his journey and was the catalyst for his return, like how Sora kept Roxas' levels in KH2?

4: I've previously stated my preference to the idea that Levels and the HP bar(kind of like aura in RWBY) is canon. I don't, however, think these are all one-to-one from game to game. 

Birth By Sleep, for example. I imagine Terra, Ventus, and Aqua all start their journey around the level Sora would be at a little before when he first arrived in Hollow Bastion. This is supported by the Maleficent fight in Enchanted Dominion, one of the first three worlds accessible. Assuming Maleficent hasn't gotten much stronger since then(she is a schemer, more than anything else, and has been left in the dust by Sora and the Organization, even with Sora's resets), she'd be around the same level in both games(not counting her dragon form, which supposedly got a nifty power boost from Riku-Ansem and the KoPHs).


	9. The X Blade

Compare the Kingdom Key to the X-blade.

Might just be an issue with designing that Nomura solved in KH3, but with detailed Scala ad Caelum and the Ultima Weapon were, I'm thinking the enlarged blue parts indicate the Birth By Sleep X-blade being imperfect, thus why Ventus-Vanitas was unable to use the power of Kingdom Hearts like Xehanort does, let alone fly.

I also looked at it in Data Greeting. In KH3, the blue spots are fixed, and there's a line down the middle of the handle to separate the two Kingdom Keys.

Another observation I made; the make of the Kingdom Key doesn't match the X-blade. Up close, the blade is clean, with a bunch of uniform lines, where as the X-blade has these anti-stains all over the Kingdom Keys' blades. Those anti-stains are also similar to the make of Braveheart.

The X-blade isn't very visible in 0.2's opening, so I couldn't confirm the line or the bulging rainguards, but I don't think the original blade with the wings glows like it does in KH3. At most the flowing inside the blade is still there, but not the radiance seen in KH3. This makes me think that the BBS X-blade doesn't glow, unlike Bond of the Blaze, which was held back by graphics in Dream Drop Distance.

Other:

Purebloods can consume hearts without becoming Emblems. Emblems are artificial heartless. That's why Sora became a shadow. However; Purebloods don't always usually hearts hearts; they get ushered to darkness by the Lich. 

While the Keyblade of People's Hearts turned Sora into a Pureblood, Luxu's keyblade in Xehanort's hands turn the Organization's hearts into Emblems. Whatever the reason, this probably relates to how Xehanort retained his mind as a heartless, albeit with some warped individuality, thus why Ansem is so different.

Evident by the Leech heartless, the beings of darkness can target each other in addition to living people.

Aqua's confusing timeline in KH3 is the lack of clarity regarding flashbacks.


	10. Keychains

1: Keychains have the potential to transform into full-fledged keyblades. This is how Roxas still dual wields in Kingdom Hearts III.

2: In 358, we see Roxas wield two Kingdom Keys before turning into Oathkeeper and Oblivion. One was Ven's keyblade, confirmed by Nomura. Why did it take the form of a Kingdom Key? It had Xion's Kingdom Key keychain equipped to it.

3: Nomura also said a keyblade can exist in two places at once. This is how Roxas wielded the Kingdom Key even while Sora was around. This might also explain how KH3 Terranort had the Gazing Eye, when it currently belonged to Master Xehanort. It's also why Young Xehanort's keyblade has influence from the Gazing Eye.

4: Kairi's keyblade was Aqua's, but when Aqua reclaimed it after KH3, the Destiny Embrace keychain stayed with Kairi and turned into a legitimate keyblade.

5: Keyblade Transformations sacrifice their ability to release hearts in exchange for power. I think. Their keychains disappear and Axel's keyblade turns back into Chakrams, which couldn't release hearts before so...

6: There are four canonical weapons associated with the Gazing Eye(unlockable keychains are questionable in canonicity); the Gazing Eye itself, created by the Master of Masters, Void Gear, Vanitas's keyblade and likely associated with Darkness, Young Xehanort's keyblade, which was influenced by the Gazing Eye, and Soul Eater, which later turns into Way to Dawn. We don't know where Riku acquired Soul Eater from.

Perhaps Riku has stronger ties to the past than once thought.

7: We don't know the origin of the Organization weapons either, only that some of them appear on the obstacles in the Labyrinth.

Perhaps they too hold secret significance, especially with the boxart of Verum Rex mentioning weapons.


	11. Why Xemnas doesn't wield a keyblade.

It's a numbers game. Terra's keyblade was with the Lingering Will, and Gazing Eye? Well.

"But then darkness stole your heart, and the keyblade with it."

My thoughts are kind of rambly, so I'll get to the point and set up a timeline.

1: Apprentice Xehanort splits himself into Ansem and Xemnas.

2: Ansem travels back to Destiny Islands and contacts Young Xehanort.

3: Young Xehanort goes along with it("These events will remain eched in my heart, leading me to seek the outside world) and gets norted by Ansem.

4: The heart can generate it's own body, as seen in Birth By Sleep and Chain of Memories, but implied in Dream Drop Distance, these bodies aren't as durable as real ones. Either way, the heart of Young Xehanort containing Master Xehanort's heart causes a glitch in his body, making him look a little older and granting him access to his future memories.

5: Ansem gives Young Xehanort the Gazing Eye, as Xehanort doesn't yet have his own keyblade. However, because of time travel shenanigans, the keyblade's appearance is dramatically warped into the time themed one we see. That's what you get when you throw a prophet into the past, I guess.

5.5: Xehanort uses the Power of Waking to collect the right hearts, some of them soon before their would-be death.

6: DDD and KH3 happen. Young Xehanort's replica body is destroyed, and the MX fragment returns to Master Xehanort, while Young Xehanort returns to the past, and reverts to how he was before he met Ansem.

7: Dark Road happens. Somewhere down the line, something happens to his original keyblade.


End file.
